Make it a tradition
Decoration Day
One day each year
Pick one day when the whole family decorates together. Make it an event with Halloween music, special snacks and fancy dress.
What you need
- Decorations you already own, plus anything new you mean to put up
- Halloween music
- Snacks checked against the allergy list
- Fancy dress, even if it is only a hat
- A job list: low places for children, high places for adults
- Cable ties or hooks, and a torch
How to do it
- Pick the day and put it where the household will see it. One afternoon is enough.
- Lay everything on the floor first so you can see what you have.
- Children dress the low places: windows, the table, paper chains. Adults take ladders, hot glue, and anything that plugs in.
- Check lights and cables before they are switched on. Keep real flames away from the decorations.
- Finish with the snacks and one song, and leave the room looking ready.
One household's version
They use the first Sunday afternoon. The children make a paper-bat garland for the doorway while a grown-up hangs lights along the curtain rail. Everyone wears a hat. The ladder and the glue gun stay with the adults. They end with orange squash and the same playlist as last October.
Safety note: Adults only on ladders and hot glue guns. Check lights and cables, and keep any real flames well away from decorations.